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Acquisition Applets for marathon ACX-SP#

This topic tells you about the acquisition applets available for the marathon ACX-SP frame grabber.

The functionality of a frame grabber is defined by a specific hardware-related program. This hardware implementation is called applet. For each frame grabber, several applets are available.

By loading an applet onto the frame grabber, you define the functionality of the frame grabber and adapt it to the requirements of your specific application.

The acquisition applets for marathon ACX-SP are included in the Framegrabber SDK.

On marathon frame grabbers, an applet is available as soon as it is flashed onto the frame grabber.

Requirements#

  • Host software: Framegrabber SDK (5.7, 5.10a, or higher) with hardware-dependent acquisition applets
  • Hardware: A marathon ACX-SP frame grabber is connected to your system

Limitation

In all applets, buffers larger than 4GB can't be allocated. Even if the applet allows a larger buffer size, you can't allocate buffers larger than 4GB due to limitations in the driver and firmware.

You can calculate the buffer size as follows:

Buffer size = image height * image width * (pixel width / 8).

For RGB images: buffer size = (image height * image width * (pixel width / 8)) * 3 .

Documentation#

The following sections provide links to the acquisition applets documentation:

Area Acquisition Applets Line Acquisition Applets Test Applet
Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaBayer PDF
Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaGray PDF Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineGray PDF
Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaRGB PDF Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineRGB PDF
FrameGrabberTest PDF

Area Scan Acquisition Applets#

The following Area Scan Acquisition Applets are available:

  • Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaBayer
  • Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaGray
  • Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaRGB

The denominator "single" in the name of the applet refers to the maximum number of cameras you can connect. For more information, see Choosing the Right Area Scan Acquisition Applet.

Choosing the Right Area Scan Acquisition Applet#

You must choose the right applet for your camera setup. Otherwise, the image received from the camera can't be processed or displayed correctly or camera performance may be reduced significantly.

Which applet is the right one depends on the number of cameras, the number of channels per camera, and the desired ROI step size.

The ROI step size depends on the parallelism of the image preprocessing and therefore varies by camera and frame grabber.

Number of Cameras Number of Camera Ports Number of Frame Grabber Ports Mode Applet ROI Step Size [px] Topology
1 1 1 Bayer Pattern Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaBayer x: 8
y: 1
One Camera, One Port, Bayer Pattern
1 1 1 Grayscale Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaGray x: 4
y: 1
One Camera, One Port, Grayscale
1 1 1 RGB Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaRGB x: 4
y: 1
One Camera, One Port, RGB

Specifications Common to All Area Scan Acquisition Applets#

Camera Ports 1
Camera Type CXP-6
Mirroring Yes, horizontal and vertical
Image Selector Yes
LUT Full resolution
Bandwidth Total DMA [MB/s] b 1800

Specifications Differing Between Area Scan Acquisition Applets#

Max. Image Size [px] c ROI Step Size [px] Bit Depth Processing [bit] Bit Depth Output [bit] Mode White Balance Bandwidth: Mean per Camera [MP/s]
Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaBayer 16k x 64k x: 8
y: 1
16 per color component BGR 24, 30 packed, 36 packed, 42 packed, or 48 Bayer Pattern Yes 600
Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaGray 64k x 64k x: 4
y: 1
16 Grayscale 8, 10 packed, 12 packed, 14 packed, or 16 Grayscale No 600
Acq_SingleCXP6x1AreaRGB 64k x 64k x: 4
y: 1
16 per color component BGR 24, 30 packed, 36 packed, 42 packed, or 48 RGB Yes 200

Line Scan Acquisition Applets#

The following Line Scan Acquisition Applets are available:

  • Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineGray
  • Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineRGB

The denominator "single" in the name of the applet refers to the maximum number of cameras you can connect. For more information, see Choosing the Right Line Scan Acquisition Applet.

Choosing the Right Line Scan Acquisition Applet#

You must choose the right applet for your camera setup. Otherwise, the camera may not work or camera performance may be reduced significantly.

Which applet is the right one depends on the number of cameras, the number of channels per camera, and the desired ROI step size.

The ROI step size depends on the parallelism of the image preprocessing and therefore varies by camera and frame grabber.

Number of Cameras Number of Camera Ports Number of Frame Grabber Ports Mode Applet ROI Step Size [px] Topology
1 1 1 Grayscale Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineGray x: 4
y: 1
One Camera, One Port, Grayscale
1 1 1 RGB Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineRGB x: 4
y: 1
One Camera, One Port, RGB

Specifications Common to All Line Scan Acquisition Applets#

Camera Ports 1
Camera Type CXP-6
ROI Step Size [px] x: 4
y: 1
Mirroring Yes, horizontal and vertical
Image Selector Yes
Bayer Color Reconstruction (HQe) No
LUT Full resolution
Bandwidth Total DMA [MB/s] b 1800

Specifications Differing Between Line Scan Acquisition Applets#

Max. Image Size [px] c Camera Ports Bit Depth Processing [bit] Bit Depth Output [bit] Mode White Balance Bandwidth: Mean per Camera [MP/s]
Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineGray 64k x 8M 1 Grayscale 8, 10 packed, 12 packed, 14 packed, or 16 16 Grayscale No 600
Acq_SingleCXP6x1LineRGB 48k x 8M 1 BGR 24, 30 packed, 36 packed, 42 packed, or 48 16 per color component RGB Yes 200

Frame Grabber Test Applet#

This applet is a frame grabber test applet. Its purpose is to test the hardware.

The applet offers the following features:

Feature Explanation
DMA Performance Test Tests different image dimensions for varying memory sizes and interrupt rates
RAM Test Checks for errors and processing
Check Camera Port Image Acquisition Checks camera port image acquisition
Send Trigger Signals to Camera Sends trigger signals to camera
GPIO Monitoring Monitors the GPIs and set the GPOs
Event Test Generates a software callback event
General Monitoring Monitors FPGA temperature, power management, PoCXP, etc.

Using Acquisition Applets#

Find here general information about using the applets with the Framegrabber SDK: Acquisition Applets.

Installing Applets#

Before you can use a specific applet on your frame grabber, you must install it on the frame grabber. Instructions for installing the applets are available at Managing Applets (microDiagnostics).

Adding an Applet Manually#

To add an applet you received as *.dll file (and not in form of an installer) to your host file system:

  1. Get the applet file (*.dll) you have received.
  2. Copy this file into the following directory: <Framegrabber SDK directory>/Dll/<Frame grabber model>

Now you can use the new applet.

Testing Image Acquisition#

Before you start using an applet in your own software (via API), you might want to test the system set-up or an individual applet (and its parametrization options).

For this purpose, you are provided with the tool microDisplay X that has been installed on your computer as part of the Framegrabber SDK environment. For instructions how to load and test your applet, see Configuring the Applet (microDisplay X).

Saving Applet Configuration#

After you have configured your applet (in microDisplay X or via Framegrabber API), you can save your configuration. For more information, see Other Tasks (microDisplay X).


  1. Framegrabber SDK version 5.9 doesn't support mE5 frame grabbers. 

  2. The actual DMA bandwidth depends on the specific mainboard and chip set of the host computer. 

  3. k Px and M Px in this case refer to a binary format. Examples for binary calculations are:

    16M px = 16384k px = 16777216 px

    8M px = 8192k px = 8388608 px

    64k px = 65536 px

    48k px = 49152 px

    32k px = 32768 px

    16k px = 16384 px